Update: Vodacom has revealed that the Nokia Belle Refresh update will be available to customers as of Monday, 01 October 2012. This update will be available for Nokia C7, E7, N8, and C6-01 users.  Customers can visit their nearest Vodacom Repair Centre outlets for more info regarding the update.

Finnish phone giant Nokia might still be battling to lure smartphone users away from Android and iOS via its Windows Phone OS-powered Lumia range, but the company has now decided to show some OS love to its users utilising Symbian-running devices.   

The firm announced the start of the roll out for its latest Symbian operating system (OS) update dubbed Nokia Belle Refresh. This update is available for the Nokia N8, Nokia E7, Nokia C7, Nokia C6-01, Nokia X7 and Nokia Oro smartphones, with another version of this OS upgrade becoming available for devices such as the Nokia E6 and Nokia 500 in the near future.

Nokia stated that the update will be rolled out in phases, kicking off with vanilla versions of these smartphones (not networked locked ones you buy from operators). Region-specific as well as operator-flavoured handsets will have access to the update within the next few weeks, “depending on local and operator approvals.”

With regard to the local availability of the Nokia Belle Refresh update Nokia South Africa said: “‘Vanilla devices’, those without operator variant software loaded on, will get the new software at the same time as the global rollout. For operator variants, software is still in testing and we will advise as soon as we know [when it will become locally available].”

This update will make new features available to the Finnish firm’s Symbian smartphones including:

• A new web browser that supports HTML5-based web applications.
• A new set of homescreen widgets that users can populate their home screens with.
• The incorporation of the previously released Microsoft Office Mobile App.
• An enhanced navigational experience via Nokia Maps Suite 2.0.
• A few extra imaging apps exclusively for the Nokia N8.